Tales From a Freshman Research Assistant

By: Natalia Wurst ‘21

As of recently, I became a double major. But before deciding law school (and major debt) is definitely for me, I declared psychology as my undergraduate degree—and stuck with it because of how much it fills my heart with joy. The inquires continue to pour in from close family friends and from strangers in the supermarket. “Oh, so you want to be a therapist?” “So can you help us figure out what makes this family so whack?” And of course, my personal favorite, “Are you psychoanalyzing me right now?” (No, yes, and y e s).

But seldom anybody mentions research. The prospect was daunting at first—I mean, am I supposed to handle data collection and interpretation now? What the heck do I know about running participants and analyzing statistically significant results? I didn’t even know that research positions were available to freshman, let alone where to go looking for them, until the summer before freshman year, when I received my first email from Ingrid Popper, an angel from the heavens (and the psych department). It was titled “Volunteer Research Positions” and detailed ways I could get involved in–surprise–volunteer research. A frenzy of application-submittals ensued. I didn’t give much thought to the type of research I’d be doing, drunk with the idea of having any kind of experience at all.

Eventually in the commotion, I interviewed with Laura Garcia, a PhD candidate who is examining the interactions between us and virtual humans in order to investigate the future impacts of therapy driven by technology. I must have been wide-eyed as she told me that we as RA’s would be helping build the project from the ground up. I stayed wide-eyed the whole way through, from our first lab meeting, and throughout the creation of the lab protocol (basically a script of what to say and how to set everything up). Our small team–Laura and six other of my coworkers–depended on each other’s input for success. I found that my voice mattered more than I’d thought it did. It was hard at first to believe that, yes, my baby freshman self is capable of tweaking protocol without having obtained three degrees. But alas, it was true. 

Gradually, I grew more and more comfortable sharing suggestions like “the phrasing of this survey question could be clarified in such-and-such way.” I received nods instead of the darting glances of judgement I’d expected. By second semester, we were ready to start bringing participants into the lab to run the actual experiment, and to this day, I’ve never been more scared of completely ruining everything. I came into the lab on the first day with laminated documents and a nervous smile, probably stumbling through the protocol more than a little. Months passed, though, and I’m happy to report I no longer feel an overwhelming need to laminate everything. I know the procedure, I’m close with Laura and the other RA’s on my team, and I’ve been able to contribute to collecting data without screwing up anyone’s dissertation (woohoo!). I’m also so incredibly grateful for Ingrid’s emails, and my sometimes concerning willingness to dive headfirst into unknown waters. It paid off this time. 

Research is not out of reach for you, either. You made it to this Disneyland of a university–through all the sleepless nights, the awards and recognitions, the stress about how to write an essay about what your passion is without using the word “passion”–it’s led you here. Maybe you’re a freshman who’s taken two semesters of GE’s and knows zero percent of anything related to your major. Maybe you’ll be a senior next year and are terrified at the prospect of getting involved in something you never have before. No matter which boat you’re in, own it. You deserve to take the chances that totally and completely yours to take.

Love,

Nat

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